Watching cable news this morning made me think, something I dont like to do as much as I used to. In the context of Ebola, ISIS, Obama and crap, in general, I got to thinking what it would be like to be born now; what my future life would be like.
I was born on a dirt farm in southern Oklahoma. It belonged to my mothers parents. Water was a dug well in the back yard. The outhouse was a one-holer about 100 yds away. There was no electricity, plumbing, gas, or telephone.
There were 3 rooms. The center room was kitchen, dining room, living room all rolled into one. Heat was from the wood-burning cookstove, and the floor was dirt. To one side was my grandparents bedroom and to the other was my parents (and my) bedroom, both with wood floors. One of my uncles still lived at home and I cant remember where he slept, but there were no other rooms; maybe in the old barn.
I spent what, to me, was a wonderful 5 years there. Unfortunately, we moved to town (Healdton, about 1,500-2,000 pop.) so I could go to school. Even so, small town Oklahoma was pretty cool. I grew up hunting and fishing at my leisure. It wasnt uncommon for me to stroll down main street with a fishing pole on one shoulder and a .22 on the other, on the way to my favorite fishing hole and frog pond. No one cared. We didnt own a car and didnt until I was 11, the same year I got my first used bike.
I learned to drive on my grandpas 36 Ford truck at about 13. By the time I graduated high school (now at Wilson), I had farmed and raised livestock, noodled catfish, had pet squirrels, crows and skunks, set my own trotlines and trap lines, ran a service station, drilled about 50 waterwells ( with Grandpa), worked on a pipeline dope crew, built 4 houses (with Grandpa, again) and, somehow, managed to stay out of serious trouble. I got my first car the summer I got out of high school. It was a seriously used 47 Ford Club Coupe. I was proud of that beat-up sucker.
My grandparents and parents were all part of the Great Depression and it showed. We were dirt poor when I was born, but by the time I got out of high school, we were lower middle class; not a minor accomplishment.
I lived all my young and formative years in direct contact with the Greatest Generation, including 4 uncles who survived WWII. Their influence on me was monumental. I was never given to option of checking out. That would be best noted when I was a young adult, a college graduate (the first in our family) and just out of the U.S. Army. After about a month of laying around my parents house, spending my meager savings on partying while sleeping under my parents roof and eating their food, my Dad called me aside one afternoon. He said simply Ronny, where are you gonna sleep tomorrow night? The message was clear. I got up the next morning, drove to Tulsa, and found a job. Worked for the next 40+ years. Thanks, Dad!
The more I think about it, the more these memories, wonderful for me, nevertheless make me feel bad for todays kids. What do they have to look forward to? Will they have memories that rival my own? Somehow, I doubt it. I wonder how many of them were born into middle class, but will be destined for a downhill slide? I hope Im wrong. Am I alone in my concerns?
I was born on a dirt farm in southern Oklahoma. It belonged to my mothers parents. Water was a dug well in the back yard. The outhouse was a one-holer about 100 yds away. There was no electricity, plumbing, gas, or telephone.
There were 3 rooms. The center room was kitchen, dining room, living room all rolled into one. Heat was from the wood-burning cookstove, and the floor was dirt. To one side was my grandparents bedroom and to the other was my parents (and my) bedroom, both with wood floors. One of my uncles still lived at home and I cant remember where he slept, but there were no other rooms; maybe in the old barn.
I spent what, to me, was a wonderful 5 years there. Unfortunately, we moved to town (Healdton, about 1,500-2,000 pop.) so I could go to school. Even so, small town Oklahoma was pretty cool. I grew up hunting and fishing at my leisure. It wasnt uncommon for me to stroll down main street with a fishing pole on one shoulder and a .22 on the other, on the way to my favorite fishing hole and frog pond. No one cared. We didnt own a car and didnt until I was 11, the same year I got my first used bike.
I learned to drive on my grandpas 36 Ford truck at about 13. By the time I graduated high school (now at Wilson), I had farmed and raised livestock, noodled catfish, had pet squirrels, crows and skunks, set my own trotlines and trap lines, ran a service station, drilled about 50 waterwells ( with Grandpa), worked on a pipeline dope crew, built 4 houses (with Grandpa, again) and, somehow, managed to stay out of serious trouble. I got my first car the summer I got out of high school. It was a seriously used 47 Ford Club Coupe. I was proud of that beat-up sucker.
My grandparents and parents were all part of the Great Depression and it showed. We were dirt poor when I was born, but by the time I got out of high school, we were lower middle class; not a minor accomplishment.
I lived all my young and formative years in direct contact with the Greatest Generation, including 4 uncles who survived WWII. Their influence on me was monumental. I was never given to option of checking out. That would be best noted when I was a young adult, a college graduate (the first in our family) and just out of the U.S. Army. After about a month of laying around my parents house, spending my meager savings on partying while sleeping under my parents roof and eating their food, my Dad called me aside one afternoon. He said simply Ronny, where are you gonna sleep tomorrow night? The message was clear. I got up the next morning, drove to Tulsa, and found a job. Worked for the next 40+ years. Thanks, Dad!
The more I think about it, the more these memories, wonderful for me, nevertheless make me feel bad for todays kids. What do they have to look forward to? Will they have memories that rival my own? Somehow, I doubt it. I wonder how many of them were born into middle class, but will be destined for a downhill slide? I hope Im wrong. Am I alone in my concerns?
